Moonrunners

A nice representation of the type of life during the days of running moonshine. This movie is the precursor to the television series the "Dukes Of Hazzard". The main characters aren't named Duke and there is no General Lee. There is however an Uncle Jesse, A sheriff Roscoe P Coltrane and the Balladeer(Waylon Jennings). Ben Jones(Cooter) has a large role as a revenue agent. There are many similarities to the television series. There are plenty of car chases. It's a fun movie to watch, but may be slow in some parts of the dialog. People who watch it can see the direct relationship that it has with the "Dukes of Hazard". Definitely worth a look of given the opportunity.

A couple of hillbilly cousins and their uncle run a quality but small-scale moonshine business that is put under threat when an unscrupulous neighbour starts distributing inferior product in large quantities with the help of some criminals.

I hadn't even heard of Moonrunners before a very kind fellow IMDber sent me a copy to check out. It clearly derives the bulk of its interest factor in that it was the film that the TV series 'The Dukes of Hazzard' was based on. Aside from the two central cousins, there is a Sheriff Roscoe, an Uncle Jesse and narration by Waylon Jennings. The series was made four years later and is a fond memory of mine – more or less everyone my age liked it back in the day. The movie is somewhat rougher than the TV series, with a more authentic feel than the polished for television characters from 'Dukes'. But it still is coming from a very similar place with its good natured Southern humour, plenty of car chases and very dumb cops. It has to be said though that while the movie did have a female side-kick for the boys, she didn't really do very much; something the 'Dukes' rectified in fine style with the introduction of the terrific Daisy Duke.

As a film, it's very episodic with little real drama underpinning things. We never really feel too much for the characters as they don't have too much depth, while some events happen with little overall purpose. Still, it's all done with quite a bit of charm that it draws you in never-the-less. Added flavour is contributed by the entertainingly organic soundtrack and the on location shooting. It was probably a little ahead of the curve in some ways too, in that there was a plethora of 'good ol' boys' Southern action comedies that hit mainstream cinema in the late 70's, some of which were massive hits. Moonrunners fits into this bracket but is a very early example of this sub-genre and seems to have subsequently gone under the radar.

I'd say this movie was as appealing as any episode of the TV show it inspired (Dukes of Hazzard); the characters a bit underdeveloped and the plot gets simplistic, at times, but it had enough pathos in it to hold my attention, even without the cars.

What keeps this from being just a loosely-connected string of explosions and car chases is the movie's play on the moonshine men's code of ethics. Much like the Mafia, they're shown to have some very deep-rooted traditions and rules. They seem willing to accept and forgive double-dealing and acts of aggression, so long as it falls within that ethos. I don't know if this is truth or fiction, but it does give the characters an extra dimension for their motivations.

And yes, the good guys DO drive Plymouths. The Haggs and Zeebo both run their shine in 1970 Plymouth Furys, while the bad guys chase them in 1971 Chevrolets. The primary bad guy drives a Cadillac, and there was nary a Ford to be seen. Only the borrowed '72 Chevrolet Jesse used to make a delivery breaks this pattern.

Hey, you watch movies for YOUR reasons, I'll watch movies for MINE. Catch it on cable.

I absolutely love this movie.I watch at least once a month.Its great Kiel Martin as Bobby Lee Hag and his cousin Grady and the very sexy Chris Forbes as Beth Ann Eubanks.I have loved this movie since the day I bought it unfortunately it is seldom seen and ever harder to own.It so desperately needs to be re released.Anyway i would highly recommend this movie and I would also recommend

The Great Lester Boggs This Stuff'll Kill Ya White Lightining Gator

all excellent movies

I first learned of this movie as a result of watching the movie "Thunder Road" on cable TV. Robert Mitchum stars in it and the cast also includes his son James.

After the end of that film, I found out that James Mitchum was in another one on similar theme, namely this one. I watched it recently and I was pleasantly surprised with it. There's no brain-blasting stuff in it and no message. It's simple entertainment that had me hooting and hollering with delight a number of times.

While it apparently inspired the TV series "The Dukes of Hazzard", I noticed a few bits in it that could well have influenced a movie made later that same decade: "Smokey and the Bandit".

I enjoyed this one a lot and it mystifies me why it's not better-known, because it's a lot of fun!